"I have killed no men, that, in the first place, didn't deserve killing" ~ Mickey Cohen
BANG!
My first shot went right through Ryu's temple. His head snapped to the side as the bullet passed through his skull and expelled his brains out into a pink mist. He didn't even see it coming, he didn't even activate his aura to stop the bullet. His head dropped to the table like a stone.
Neo threw the wine bottle across the table to hit the dragon standing behind Ryu to my right. It shattered against him spraying red wine and glass all over him.
I knew that Ryu was dead from the first shot so I leveled the gun right at Michail. I looked at his face painted with horror and confusion as I pulled the trigger.
BANG! BANG!
Two shots to his chest. Neo smashed my wine glass on the table and thrust the sharp glassy stem right through the throat of the man sitting next to me as he moved to draw his gun. Blood spurted across the table as she stabbed him again and again. It was so fast and mechanical, like a sewing machine.
BANG!
My third shot was right to his face. More pink mist erupted from the back of his skull and his eyeball popped out of his socket. He went limp in his chair and fell to the floor dead.
The whole room was in motion. By the time I realized that I had killed both my targets I watched as Cardin smashed one of Ryu's guys down with his mace and proceeded to crush his skull with a mighty swing.
One of the dragons standing across the table from Neo drew his gun and tried to fire at me. The illusion of Neo's semblance dropped shattered like mirror shards as she returned to her normal brown and pink self. She raised her parasol and opened it to protect me from the shots. The gang member looked confused and Neo leapt over the table drawing a long thin blade from her parasol. She spun off the table and delivered a kick to the gangster, sending him to the ground before she delivered a coup de grace to him, sending the blade right through his heart.
Kenzo had pummeled another of Michail's men to the ground with his bare hands and as his aura shattered sent his foot down on his neck crushing it.
The door opened and the one guard outside rushed it with his gun raised. Neo was the closest and he opened fire on her only for her to raise her deployed parasol to shield herself. I raised my revolver and fired.
My fifth and last shot struck him and I watched his aura shimmer as it shielded him from the bullet. He looked to me and raised his pistol to fire on me only for Neo to rush in with several swift graceful kicks and a slash to his throat. I watched stunned as he bled to death.
It had been over in seconds.
Neo was already closing the door and flicking the blood off her blade as I simply surveyed the carnage around me. Eight corpses littered the room, two of them dead by my hand. My revolver was still smoking in my hand and all I could do was stand there stunned amid all that death.
Neo was already at work typing on her scroll. My own went off in my pocket and I saw that she had texted me.
O-Ushi and her boys are on their way. Help with the bodies, I have a car out back.
I looked up from my scroll dumbly realizing that there was still more work to be done and I just stood around like an idiot. Cardin and Kenzo both were looking at this strange unfamiliar woman ready for a fight with her. "She's with us," I told them realizing that this could easily turn into a violent misunderstanding. "She's with us," I told the both of them, "let's get these bodies out the back."
"You know her?" Cardin asked me, relaxing just a little bit but still staring as she worked heedless to him.
"Long story, but yes I know her and she's on our side," I assured him moving to Michail's fat dead body. "Now come on and help me."
I never really get used to handling corpses. I helped Cardin pick up Michail and we hauled him out the back door and into the alley where sure enough O-Ushi and Tonen had already arrived. It's called dead weight for a reason and he had plenty of it, I don't know if I could have moved him without Cardin's help.
"Holy shit!" Toshi said watching as Cardin and I dropped his fat heavy body into the trunk of Neo's car. "Is that him, is that Michail?"
I nodded numbly and we moved back inside. The other guys that had come with O-Ushi made quick work getting the other corpses out of the restaurant and into the alley. This was all moving fast and like clockwork, nobody wanted to stick around for badges or anyone to show up. In less than five minutes we had all eight bodies stuffed into three different trunks.
I hardly paid any attention as I was shuffled into the passenger seat of Neo's car. She got into the diver side and we left the alley behind us. The cars split off, driving in different directions and it was just Neo and me alone in the car together.
She handed me a flask as she drove.
I took it dumbly and looked at it.
"I'm fine," I said to her as the lights of Vale flashed off the polished silver flask. It was engraved with an umbrella and at the bottom it read. 'Keep it filled Nickolai, love Roman.'
No, you're not. She texted me keeping her eyes focused on the road as she texted one handed with expert deftness.
"No I'm not," I sighed in agreement. I uncapped the flask and took a gulped down a healthy amount of the fiery sweet liqueur. The burn it left on my mouth and throat was welcome and it helped take the edge off.
I didn't know who Nickolai was or why Neo had his flask but I was thankful for the drink.
"Junior sent you didn't he?" I asked her, realizing that there was really only one reason why she was there tonight of all nights.
She nodded to me.
I released a breath. It made sense, this was far too important to be left in the hands of an amateur like me. She had handled the three extra goons that had appeared at the last minute with ease. It would have been a complete shit show without her.
"Thanks… I couldn't have done it without you," I said watching as the city lights passed us by while we made our way to the Forest of Forever Fall.
She nodded silently to me as her one hand texted without even looking at her scroll.
You did well setting this up. I almost left it all to you.
"I'm just happy that it worked," I admitted to her. "When and how did you get my scroll number?" I asked her, realizing that I had never really given it to her.
I asked Melanie and Miltia for it. She explained with a text.
That was interesting. I wondered idly why she would want my number of all things but I was a little too shaken to focus on it for very long. I felt tired, the adrenaline was coming down hard on me and all that had happened kept replaying again and again in my mind. I kept seeing Michail's eye pop out when I put a bullet in his head. Another text appeared on my phone.
Don't think too much about it. It read.
"How am I supposed to do that?" I asked her, feeling that it was impossible.
Talk to me, talk to me about anything other than what just happened. She instructed me.
I nodded to her and tried to think about what we could possibly talk about but I wasn't able to think of anything. I could only think about pulling that trigger watching those people die. "Any ideas on what we can talk about?" I asked her.
Her fingers tapped across the screen of her scroll as we drove down the highway to the outskirts of the city. Who do you think tastes better? Melanie or Miltia?
I blushed reading that. Our casual relationship with the twins was in fact one thing we did have in common. But I wasn't expecting her to be so upfront about that of all things.
"I can't tell you that!" I sputtered nervously.
Come on Gentleman, just between the two of us. Kiss and tell. She urged me.
I was silent for a moment as I looked out the window as every minute put Vale further into the rear view mirror. Her boldness had provided a temporary distraction from the recent events and I felt her distraction slipping away.
"Miltia is sweeter tasting one." I bashfully admitted to her unable to think of anything else to talk about with her.
Neo's think pink lips curled into smirk as her free hand typed on her scroll.
Agreed.
I chuckled nervously at that. It was kind of strangely freeing to talk a little frankly about my time having fun with the Malachite sisters. "But Melanie is definitely the feistier one," I said to her, "She's certainly the more energetic dancer."
Neo nodded as she typed out on her scroll. They certainly like dancing with you. They say you're very experienced.
I chuckled a little at that feeling flattered that they had apparently been talking about me and skills on the dance floor with her. "I took a lot of classes with my sisters growing up, though it was more ballroom and ballet than grinding on the dance floor of a club."
You took ballet? Her text read glowing in the dark of the car.
"Y-yeah," I admitted to her scratching the back of my head nervously. "I kept up with the classes until I was thirteen and the teasing had become more than I could take."
I practice ballet myself. I love it. She admitted in her text flashing me a sidelong smirk.
"Really? I should have noticed, you certainly have the body and grace of a ballerina." I said to her seeing the signs of it all come together in my mind.
She smirked at that and I realized I made a comment about her body. Though she didn't seem to mind too much.
Do you still dance ballet? She asked me, thankfully letting my absentminded comment pass without any teasing.
I shook my head no. "Not for a long time," I admitted to her. "Though I kind of miss it."
She nodded to show that she understood. I was fairly sure that her life as an assassin for the Vale Mafia hardly gave her much room for pursuing dance as more than a hobby.
"How did you take an interest in ballet?" I asked her as I remembered how she told me that she had always been involved in the life.
My aunt taught me. She studied in the Atlesian School of Ballet.
That was impressive. It was one of the most prestigious dance schools in the world after all. "Wow… if you don't mind me asking… How were you born into this life?"
She looked over to be and considered my question for a long quiet moment. I felt that I had crossed a line with her by asking about her how she had managed to come into this kind of life.
"I'm sorry I just-," I began telling her only for her to raise a single finger and silence me. Her fingers tapped across the screen of her scroll as she watched the dark winding road ahead of us. It was a long stretch of quiet with the only sound being her fingers tapping on the screen of her scroll and the sounds of the car.
I have no memory of my real parents. Roman was the one to find me, he took me in, he named me. And I became a part of his family. The Torchwick Family.
That was a revelation. I had figured her to just be a member of the family like others where. Hired in maybe she had parents that served under "Lucky" Luca Torchwick back in the day. But to her the Torchwick family was her family, that meant her aunt was probably Roman's sister. I didn't even know he had a sister but the things I didn't know about Roman and the Torchwick Family back them could have filled a book.
"Is your aunt still doing ballet?" I asked her.
She's in prison. Neo texted me back frankly.
"Oh," I said, feeling that I had suddenly crossed the line. The little distraction was over as we drove through the Forest of Forever Fall and pulled down a dirt road. Tonight's business had hardly been concluded. Though I appreciated the drink and the small talk. It had at least distracted me from the bitter business we were currently conducting.
We drove for quite a while until she stopped and pulled off the road driving until we reached a clearing where indeed I could see two graves already dug with shovels waiting for us. She left the lights on and we moved to get the bodies out of the trunk.
Ryu's limp dead corpse was easy enough to move but Michail's fat ass was a chore to haul over to the pit. I tried not to look into their eyes that remained open. Watching these bags of meat and bone that had once been people tumble into these graves was strange and disturbing, it humbling in a way.
With the bodies dumped the only thing left to do was bury them. We picked up both shovels and began throwing down the mound of dirt that was piled up next to the pits. "I'm guessing O-Ushi has some other graves out here," I said dropping a shovel full of dirt over Michail's body.
Neo nodded, dumping her own shovel full of soil into her pit over Ryu. We were quiet for a long while as we focused on shoveling dirt. I couldn't help but steal a few glances into the pit to see his dead eye gazing up at me while his other dangled from it's socket.
Again left with silence between us I couldn't help but replay the events in my mind again and again. I tried to distract myself with the work, I shoved as fast and hard as I could but it didn't stop me from thinking about it however.
I eventually stopped and took out the flask Neo had leant me for another drink of the rum inside. It was like candy fire how it left a sweet burn in my mouth. I pulled out a cigarette and tried to light it but the wind was making it difficult. I let out a string of curses as I fiddled with the lighter trying to block the wind with my hand but it wasn't working.
All my raw emotions seemed to pour out that moment and when I finally was able to light my smoke hot tears were streaming down my face. I just stared off into the dark forest as I smoked and the tears streamed down my face.
I don't know how long I stared off into the darkness before I felt Neo's hand settle on my shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze. I kept my teary eyes focused on the darkness in front of me. I felt embarrassed at the idea of her seeing me cry but I appreciated the little comfort she offered me.
"How uh… how do you deal with this?" I asked her.
My scroll buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out and gazed at the bright little screen.
I'm used to this, it doesn't always bother me. But when it does I have vices to distract me. Like sweets, sex and alcohol.
Alcohol and tobacco were doing little to numb me at the moment. Physical intimacy on the other hand seemed nice at the moment. But at that moment I just needed to enjoy my smoke and let the tears flow.
Neo stayed like that the entire time with her hand comfortingly on my shoulder. I was grateful for her, just the touch of her hand was comforting to me and by the time I was finished with my cigarette my tears had dried.
My scroll buzzed in my hand and I looked down to see that it was actually Cardin who had texted me this time. Look at your news feed! It read.
I opened the news app on my scroll expecting to see news of the hit but when the video played I saw Lisa Lavender standing in front of police tape and several squad cars with their lights flashing.
"Violence erupted tonight on the west side of Vale this evening when a seedy dive bar called The Caboose came under fire followed by an assault on a warehouse less than a block down the street. Vale's finest were quick to respond and find that the mysterious gunman was actually a huntress who's name shall remain undisclosed. Upon investigation police found numerous illegal narcotics in the basement of The Caboose. But more shocking still was in the warehouse where a shipping container was discovered to be housing eight captive women and four men. It is believed that both locations are involved in a smuggling operation from the adjacent railyard."
Coco. She had done it. She had managed to hit the Atlesian smuggling operation and now it was all over the news for the world to see.
Did you do that? A second text from Cardin ready.
Wasn't me. I lied to him.
I pocketed the scroll and reached my hand to touch Neo's. "Thank you," I told her, snubbing out my cigarette and taking a deep breath of the fresh forest air. "Let's get back to work."
I turned and she nodded to me, returning to her pit and shovel as I returned to mine. It took several hours of long hard work to finish filling those graves. I managed to fill mine up first while Neo was still only half full and I moved to help her.
"I would have thought you would be faster at this," I joked, trying to make light of our situation. "I mean… you're the one with experience with this kind of thing."
She frowned at me and stabbed her shovel into the dirt mound before pulling out her scroll.
You had the bigger stiff in your hole. She told me.
I actually laughed at that. It was dark and twisted and I still felt horrible for doing what I did. But I actually managed to smirk and chuckle at that little quip. "Good point," I said, refilling my shovel and tossing the dirt into the hole.
Who do you think hit that smuggling operation by the railyard? She asked me with a quizzically raised eyebrow.
"The news said it was some huntress," I said noncommittally, dumping more soil into the hole.
But the timing is strange. It could be why those three guys showed up and why Michail was in such a hurry to leave.
I hadn't thought about that. I didn't think that Coco would just go off and attack the Atlesians while I was having dinner with Michail. But it could indeed explain why the extra muscle suddenly arrived. I hadn't even considered how sicking Coco on the Atlesians would have affected me and the hit. If it hadn't been for Neo we could have gotten killed because of what I had done. "Are you going to help me finish this or not?" I asked her dodging the question, "it's getting cold out."
She shrugged and picked her shovel back up to help. We managed to fill in the rest of the pit in less than an hour before we stowed the shovels in the trunk of her car.
"Can I drive?" I asked her. "I think focusing on the road would be good for me."
She nodded and tossed me the keys. I got it and started it up to head back into Vale. It was less than an hour before midnight when we left. I sighed as I lit another cigarette and turned on the radio scanning the channels until I found a decent rock station to listen to.
I had always wanted to visit the Forest of Forever Fall. It was a shame that my first time there was in the dark performing some bitter business.
"Are you sure no one will find the bodies?" I asked her.
She tapped on her scroll before holding it up for me to look at. Grimm will find them before anyone. That was both comforting and nauseating to think about. Thankfully few other than huntsmen went off the main roads there.
After all of that I was a tired, sore and sweaty mess covered in blood and dirt and wine. I was thankful that I chose not to wear one of my nicer tailored suits to the hit. I wasn't going to be keeping this one.
"Where should I go?" I asked her as the glittering skyline of Vale appeared in the distance. I only then realized that I didn't know where I was supposed to be going. I just knew that I was driving back to Vale.
Junior's Club, he's going to be meeting us.
I nodded. Of course Junior would be wanting us to check in before the night was over. Every time I thought that my night was over and I was going to be able to stop and let it end, some other business needed to be taken care of.
After a long drive we entered back into Vale and drove to Little Mistral and the Club. We parked in the back where one of Junior's guys was waiting to take the car away and see that the plates were changed and it was cleansed of all evidence.
Walking into the club and hearing the sound of the rhythmic music felt strange. After everything that had happened that night I was strangely sobering to be reminded that other people were enjoying careless fun.
We went right up to the VIP section. Junior was waiting along with O-Ushi and Tonen and the twins. It was a gathering and when I stepped into the room all eyes turned to me and Neo. Everyone just looked at us with stone faces and remained quiet.
Junior was the first to step forward and take Neo's hand which he kissed in greeting. "Thank you for doing this," he said, giving her a wry smile and looking over to me, "did he…?"
Neo nodded silently to him and Junior only nodded back before handing her an envelope. "Drinks are on the house," he told her as she stuffed the envelope away into her jacket, "and please give Roman my regards."
As he released her to go mingle with the others Junior stepped forward and put his hand on my shoulder. "Good work Jaune," he said, pulling out a second fatter envelope and tucking it into my coat. "For the job," he said to me.
I realized then that he was paying me for the hit. I just nodded to him, "Thanks," I told him idly wondering just how much lien Michail and Ryu's lives were worth packed into that envelope.
Junior led me away to the window overlooking the club. He leaned in close to me and spoke low so that only I could hear him. "Did you hear about what happened?" He asked me. "Some huntress attacked the Atlesians."
"I did hear," I told him, feeling a chill go up my spine.
"You know, I had some of my own guys watching that area. They told me the huntress that shot the place was some girl with sunglasses and a beret. A lot like the one you met here at my club." He said his voice low and deadly calm as his hand tightened on my shoulder like a vice.
I remained silent as he mentioned this.
"I am only going to ask you this once Jaune so don't you dare lie to me. Did you have anything to do with that?" He asked me firmly.
I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Yes," I told him, "that Huntress was a friend from Beacon, I told her about the Atlesian operation hoping that she'd take things into her own hands," I explained to him, unable to lie.
His grip on my shoulder relaxed and he nodded as we watched the club partying below us. "That was a hell of a blow Gent," Junior said appreciatively. "The Atlesian's are going to be hurting bad after what you did tonight."
"Uh.. yeah," I said to him, unsure what he was planning with me now that I had been honest with him.
"You did good," Junior said, his grip on my shoulder suddenly tightening again almost hurting me. "But don't you ever go behind my back like that ever again. Understood?"
I nodded to him.
"Good, have a drink and enjoy yourself. You've earned it." He said, stepping away from me.
"You're not angry?" I asked following him just a little bit.
He turned to me, "My hands have been kept clean because of that so no. But next time I expect to be informed when you make a play like that."
"I will," I said, grateful that my little stunt hadn't angered him enough to hurt me. We parted ways and I made my way to the bar ordering a mint julep to relax me.
"How are you feeling Gentleman?" O-Ushi asked me, stepping close.
"Terrible," I answered her honestly.
"That's normal," O-Ushi said perching on the bar and putting a hand on my shoulder. "Just don't ever let it stop feeling terrible. That's when you got a real problem. That's when wiseguys start thinking they can solve everything with a bullet."
"Thanks for the advice," I said, lighting a cigarette while I watched the bartender make my drink.
"Jaune… do you know why we don't usually have our associates doing work like this?" She asked me as my drink was placed in front of me.
I shook my head as I took my first drink of the sweet minty cocktail.
"Because in the Clan there are two things that prove your loyalty is ironclad. You can go to prison for the Clan, or you can shed blood for the Clan. I suppose it's three because you can also die for the Clan but that's besides the point Gent. You shed blood for us, and for what it's worth I want you to know that we won't be forgetting that any time soon."
"Thanks," I told her, "Where's Cardin?" I asked remembering that he had left in her car after we left the scene of the hit.
"He's drinking downstairs with his buddies," O-Ushi said to me. "He shed blood tonight as well, but he did it for you, not the Clan. You shouldn't forget that either."
"What should happen to him?" I asked her unsure what to do with Cardin now that I had hopefully put my troubles with the 24k Dragons and Michail behind me. At least I hoped I did.
"What do you mean?" O-Ushi asked. "He and his buddies work for you, they told me so themselves."
"So what do I do with them now?" I asked her, "I mean… I might have some guys selling my bootlegs but I don't know what to do with these guys."
"Put them to work," she told me. "You're a smart gent Jaune, I'm sure you'll figure out something."
She gave me a pat on the back and left me to enjoy my drink in peace. I was grateful for that relatively quiet moment as I downed the minty cocktail.
"Hey Jaune," Melanie and Miltia greeted me in unison with Neo walking silently with them, Miltia had an arm around Neo's slender waist.
"Hey," I greeted raising my drink.
"Any plans for the rest of the night?" Melanie asked, taking a stool next to me and ordering a gin martini from the bartender.
"Neo and I and leaving together," Miltia said to me giving a little sensual smirk over to Neo.
"Sweet tooth?" I asked Neo invoking our little agreement that Miltia was the sweeter tasting of the two. It seemed that sex would be the vice she turned to tonight.
Neo grinned sinfully and gave me a wink.
"You should keep me company tonight Jaune," Melanie suggested to me, "I'd hate to spend the night alone."
I looked over to Miltia and Neo, "Why don't you spend the night with Neo and your sister?" I asked her, snubbing out my cigarette.
Melanie shook her head and picked up her martini, "I'm not in the mood for ice cream tonight," she joked, "no offence Neopolitian."
Neo only shrugged at that and typed on her scroll.
Have a goodnight Jaune. She texted me before giving me a wink and a wave goodbye. Her and Mil left the two of us to our drinks as they left the club together.
"I don't know how much fun i'll be tonight," I told her, "I'm gross and sore and I was planning on catching a cab home after this drink."
"You know, never been to your place before," Melanie said leaning her elbow on the bar.
"It's not much," I told her dismissively. "Your place is a palace by comparison."
"Hmm… well humble peasant, would you mind taking this princess back to your barn for a roll in the hay?" She teased putting a hand on my thigh.
I chuckled a bit. "Only if you're willing to let this dirty peasant clean up in the shower first," I told her, warming to the idea of spending the night with her. Neo's advice was becoming more alluring every minute.
She laughed, and it sounded wonderful. "Well this princess might join you," she said, leaning in close to whisper into my ear, "but I promise that by the end of that shower we're going to be a lot dirtier than when we hopped in."
I smiled and we both downed the rest of our drinks and called for one of O-UShi's cabs. The minute we climbed into the back of the cab we were entwined with one another. I used to hate it when the passengers made out in the back of my cab. Now I was the one getting handsy with a girl in the back seat.
We got back to my apartment with an awkward greeting to Hana as we made our way up the stairs. We got into my little apartment and I began to strip off my clothes as I got the hot water running in the shower.
I pulled off my shirt and noticed the blood and wine stains on the fabric. I paused staring at it as I replayed those violent memories in my mind.
Melanie stepped up and embraced me from behind, I felt her warm bare breasts pressing against my back. I looked up to the mirror to see her looking at the shirt with me. "You know Jaune… if you want to talk about it-."
"I don't!" I lied to her. I would have liked to have talked about it, but I couldn't talk about the millions of other things that were bothering me on top of the hit. I wanted to talk about my mission, I wanted to talk about my doubts and my frustrations and about Ozpin. I couldn't unload anything about that to her. I had nobody to talk to about that too. "I just… I want to relax and not think about it."
She slid her slender hands over my body, making me shudder. "That's fine," she said, turning me around and gently pulling me into the shower with eyes full of lust. The water was hot and soothing and welcoming. Melanie wrapped her hands around my neck. "How about a massage after your shower?" She offered me.
"That sounds wonderful," I sighed, putting my hands on her hips.
"Good, because I give great massages." She bragged with a grin before raising to kiss me.
She really did. The rest of my night was bliss and I didn't think about the hit for the rest of the night. Until we fell asleep and I saw Michail's confused and terrified face in my dreams. Thankfully when I awoke from the nightmare I wasn't alone.